FEC down to two members weeks before midterms, unable to enforce election law

Left · 1The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has only two of its six commissioner seats filled, so it has no quorum, ahead of what is projected to be the most expensive US election cycle on record. 1 Left · 2Without four commissioners, the agency cannot open investigations, issue fines, write rules or give candidates formal legal guidance, and CBS News reports it has been unable to do so since May 2025; staff can still collect and publish campaign finance reports, answer candidates' questions and receive new complaints. 1 2 Left · 2According to agency records cited by CBS News, the FEC has not resolved a single enforcement case or approved new civil penalties since then, whereas in the previous 12 months it closed 180 cases and imposed about $1 million in penalties; its enforcement backlog doubled from 154 to 307 in a year. The FEC declined to comment. 1 2

Left · 2The commission unravelled after President Trump returned to office: Republican Commissioner Sean Cooksey resigned in January 2025 to join Vice President JD Vance's staff, and weeks later Trump removed Democratic Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub, who called the firing illegal. 1 2 Left · 2Republican Allen Dickerson left by the end of April 2025, leaving the FEC one member short of a quorum, and Republican Trey Trainor stepped down in October, leaving two Democrats, Shana Broussard and Dara Lindenbaum, so for the first time since its 1974 creation the FEC had no members from one of the two major parties. 1 2 Left · 2Trump nominated two Republicans in February, but nearly eight months later the Senate has not held a hearing on either nominee. 1 2

Left · 1Lawmakers of both parties have received the same answer. Broussard told Reps. Mike Lawler and Josh Gottheimer, who asked for help on AI chatbots and election misinformation, that the FEC "cannot proceed"; Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was told no advisory opinion on using campaign funds for childcare was possible, and said she had contacted the White House about restoring a quorum. 1 Left · 1Adav Noti, a former top FEC lawyer who now heads the Campaign Legal Center, said there is "blanket impunity for lawbreaking" and more "boundary-pushing"; his group filed a complaint last month alleging Trump illegally controls the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc., whose spokesperson denied impropriety and said it complies with the law. 1 Left · 2Conservatives are also frustrated: Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center called it "very disconcerting" that the FEC cannot act, and the group's complaint accusing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of misusing campaign money to pay a psychiatrist is stalled; her office and campaign did not respond to requests for comment. 1 2

Left · 1CBS News adds that political ad spending is projected at $11.6 billion this cycle, $400 million above 2024 according to AdImpact, with much of it routed through groups that do not disclose donors, and that campaigns keep filing complaints the agency cannot act on, including in the Texas and Nebraska Senate races. 1